Wells Fargo Hurdles Low Bar

Wells Fargo (WFC) on Wednesday reported a 25% drop in third-quarter profit on the back of higher credit losses and write-downs related to investments, but managed to beat estimates. Wells Fargo, which managed to beat Citigroup (C) to Wachovia (WB), said its third quarter net income fell to $1.64 billion, or 49 cents a share. Analysts were expecting earnings in the range of 41 cents a share, on average.

The dip was further highlighted by the company’s efforts to bolster its credit reserves by $500 million to cover bad loans. The San Francisco-based firm’s total revenue rose 5% to $10.38 billion. The stock is up 3.3% since the morning and trading at $34.62.

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Read the full analyst report on WB

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